Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits for the levelling up agenda of implementing the recommendations of the (a) Early Years Healthy Development Review and (b) Vision for the Best Start for Life.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
My Right Honourable friend is an extraordinary champion on these issues and has long campaigned for babies and children to get the best start in life. This government recognises the importance of the 1001 critical days.
Investing over £300 million to transform Start for Life and Family Hub services, in 75 local authorities in England, with high levels of deprivation, directly supports the levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that local planning authorities are able to manage the planning demands of large scale developments and their impact on communities effectively.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Local planning authorities need to have the right skills to deliver for their communities. We have committed to developing a comprehensive skills strategy for the planning sector to set out solutions for training and capacity-building. We have also announced that we will consult on increasing planning fees for major and minor applications, by 35% and 25% respectively.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support landlords who rely on income from less than three rental properties during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is supporting landlords by helping tenants to pay their rent and has brought forward a significant economic response, including support for businesses to pay staff salaries through the furlough scheme, which has been extended to March.
As made clear in our COVID renting guidance to tenants and landlords, tenants who?are able to pay rent must continue to do so. Where landlords find themselves in coronavirus-related hardship, mortgage lenders have agreed to offer payment holidays of up to six months, with applications now open until 31 January 2021.
Housing possession claims can be actioned through the courts and we have worked with the judiciary to introduce new court arrangements to ensure appropriate protection for all parties
While we have asked bailiffs not to carry out evictions during the national restrictions in England (from 5 November), there will be a number of serious circumstances which will be exempt. This we hope can serve as reassurance to landlords. These serious circumstances are cases of illegal occupation, anti-social behaviour, fraud, eviction of a perpetrator of domestic abuse in social housing and where a property is unoccupied following the death of a tenant. We also intend to introduce an exemption for extreme pre-Covid rent arrears. Together with the pause on enforcement of evictions over the Christmas period, this means bailiffs have been asked not to enforce evictions in England until the 11 January at the earliest, except in the most serious circumstances.
The Government believes this strikes the right balance between prioritising public health and supporting the most vulnerable renters, whilst ensuring landlords can access and exercise their right to justice for the most serious cases.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the help to buy scheme in its current format will be extended until April 2022.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government recognises that there have been delays caused by Covid-19. That is why on 31 July a two-month extension was announced to the building completion deadline from 31 December 2020 to 28 February 2021. The legal completion deadline for the purchase remains 31 March 2021.
The Government also announced an extra measure to protect existing customers who have experienced severe delays as a result of coronavirus. Homes England, who administer Help to Buy, will work with those who had a reservation in place before 30 June to assess their situation and look to provide an extension where necessary. In which case, they will have until 31 May 2021 to legally complete. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/help-to-buy-scheme-extended.
We believe these measures provide sufficient time for developers to build out homes delayed by COVID 19 and protect customers whose purchases have been significantly delayed. There are no plans to extend the current scheme further.
Meanwhile the Government’s new Help to Buy scheme, which will replace the current scheme and is for first time buyers only, will commence on 1 April 2021 and run until March 2023. More information can be found at: https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/equity-loan/help-to-buy-equity-loan-2021-2023/.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that motorbike scrambling is subject to covid-19 legislation with no change in planning permission.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
All activities are subject to the relevant Covid restrictions. To support businesses and communities during this time we have provided a further 14 days during which time land can temporarily be used for motorsports until 31 December 2020. This is in addition to the existing allowance of 14 days.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the regulations on the occupation of caravan sites during the winter months in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There are no specific planning regulations controlling the occupation of caravan sites during the winter months. Occupation during these months may be subject to planning conditions as part of the planning permission for the site. The Government issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 14 July which says that local planning authorities should prioritise planning applications which vary conditions to extend the operation of caravan sites beyond the usual summer season. In doing so, they should have regard to any advice from the Environment Agency where there may be a risk of flooding on a site, whilst considering the benefits of longer opening season times to local economies as they recover from the impact of Covid-19.